News, Reviews And Interviews From Around The Poker World

*Get Your International Poker Open Extra Chips Now *
Boylepoker.com has launched its VIP Club points promotion which has added an interesting twist to the International Poker Open 2009. Through August and September players can add 2,000 chips to their IPO starting stack of 8,000 by earning VIP Club points on the site.

While the August leg of the promotion will be over by the time Card Player hits the streets, 250 VIP points earned in September will give players 1,000 chips to add to their starting stack. Players must register for the event by October 15, and there will be no cash entries allowed on the day.

The International Poker Open hits the Regency Hotel in Dublin on October 16 with $25,000 added by its sponsor. The no-limit Texas hold’em tournament is the largest outside of the U.S. and is expected to sell out its capacity of 1,300 players once again, which means an estimated $300,000 guaranteed prize pool.

There are $5 + $0.50 buy-in feeder satellites at the site every Monday and Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. BST with one rebuy and one add-on. Every $27.50 in the prize pool means a ticket to the weekly super satellite. This $25 + $2.50 super satellite is a freezeout which takes place every Friday at 8:30 p.m. with one IPO seat per every $250 in the prize pool.

Last year it was Irishman Ruairi Coy who came up trumps and took home the €37,530 first prize from a total prize pool of €205,000.

Poker King Movie Filmed in Macau
The Asian Poker Tour Macau, held in the former Portuguese colony now part of China from August 12 to 23, saw the international poker community joined by producers, directors, cameramen, and actors as the festival was filmed for a new Chinese language poker movie that is expected to rock Asia.

The movie, provisionally known as Poker King, is anticipated to be as popular in Asia as Hollywood’s Rounders was in the western world. It will be directed by the famous Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun, and will see an all-star cast, perhaps including the Tour’s sponsored ambassadors “The Poker Pack”.

Tom Hall, chief executive officer of Asian Logic, owners of the Asian Poker Tour said, “Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, is always highlighted as a key catalyst for the growth of poker in the western world. Poker King has the promise to deliver this and potentially much more.”

Devilfish Autobiography Due Next Year
The auction for Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott’s autobiography was won by international publishing house, Penguin, and it is due to be published next summer as a lead paperback.

With such a colourful life, Ulliott is a thoroughly interesting character, with plenty of bows to his string, including acting ambassador of DevilfishPoker.com. He is ultimately a success story and a legend in the poker world. Devilfish will be co-authored by men’s magazine writer Marcus Georgio who also previously wrote the Dave Courtney gangster series.

Joel Rickett, who is the editorial director at Penguin imprint Viking, bought the UK and Commonwealth rights to the title from Andrew Lownie of the Lownie Agency, and described it as “uncompromising” and “hilarious.”

Poker Declassified in Russia
Late July saw the Russian Ministry of Sports and Tourism officially exclude poker from its list of sports.

The list, which was approved by the Russian State physical training and sport committee on January 1, 2004, came to include poker in 2007. The minister, Vitaly Mutko, wrote in a report that this was a mistake as the decision should have been made by special Ministry commission and not by the chief of Russian State Physical Training and Sport Committee.

With all casinos and gambling halls forced to close in Russia on August 1, excluding a few designated (far-flung) destinations, this new decision comes at a very intense time. Many players believe that this move is just another part of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s anti-gambling plan.

As a result of this, PokerStars.com was forced to move its European Poker Tour Moscow event to Kiev, Ukraine.

Full Tilt Poker Million VIII First Semifinal Complete
Online qualifier Peter Vasiliou has joined Luke “_FullFlush1_” Schwartz, Annette Obrestad, Tony Bloom, Juha Helppi, Nam Le, and Paul Zimbler in the first semifinal of the FullTilt.com Poker Million VIII.

Vasiliou beat Gavin Smith, Joao Barbosa, Mike McDonald, John Duthie, and Adam Carey in the runner-up heat to take his seat beside some of the biggest names of the game.

Among those taking part in the second semifinal, filming from October 6 to 8, are Howard Lederer, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, J.C. Tran, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, and Gus Hansen.

Online players can qualify at FullTiltPoker.com. The Poker Million VIII begins airing on Sky Sports in September.

November Nine Betting Markets
A number of bookmakers — VC Bet, 888, Blue Square, and Ladbrokes — have launched their World Series of Poker main event final table betting markets.

The best available odds at time of going to press were:
Seat 1 Darvin Moon 11/4 with VC
Seat 2 James Akenhead 20/1 with VC
Seat 3 Phil Ivey 13/2 with VC
Seat 4 Kevin Schaffel 12/1 with Ladbrokes/Blue Square/888
Seat 5 Steven Begleiter 13/2 with VC
Seat 6 Eric Buchman 4/1 with Ladbrokes/Blue Square/888
Seat 7 Joseph Cada 12/1 with Ladbrokes/Blue Square/888
Seat 8 Antoine Saout 18/1 with Ladbrokes/Blue Square/888
Seat 9 Jeff Shulman 7/1 with Ladbrokes

888, Ladbrokes, and Blue Square are all offering one-quarter the odds for top three finisher each-way bets. More markets and bookies will enter the frame over the coming weeks so keep checking back at CardPlayer.com for updates on the market.

Palms Playboy Party PKR Style
The World Series of Poker is as famous for its parties as it is for its poker, and this year was no exception. Arguably the party of the summer in Las Vegas was the PKR.com shindig at the $40,000 per night Hugh Hefner Villa in the Palms on July 1.

Over 450 people attended the sell-out event including cricketer Shane Warne, Boyzone star Shane Lynch, Mike Sexton, Phil Galfond, J.C. Tran, Roland De Wolfe, Jeff Lisandro, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Annette Obrestad, Neil Channing, Liv Boeree, Michael Greco, Kara Scott, Brian Townsend, Tony Bloom, and David Rheem.

The full pro squad from training site and PKR partner Bluefire Poker also showed up for a night of ultimate indulgence.

The hooley featured go-go dancers, models, Playboy bunnies, dj’s, an open bar, and the suite’s incredible outdoor cantilever swimming pool with some of the best views of Vegas.

Wigg Wins European Masters of Poker Barcelona
With 399 players in contention at the August leg of the European Masters of Poker, Barcelona was the tour’s largest event so far. In the end, it was Anton Wigg who brought the title, the trophy, and the top prize of €55,502 back home to Sweden.

A deal was made threehanded with the players deciding to battle it out for the EMOP trophy and a small amount of money. The final two left standing were Maciej Swicarz and Anton Wigg, and although it looked like it was going Swicarz’ way at first, Wigg reclaimed his chips and took it down.

The final hand saw both players all in on the flop with top pair. Wigg had the ace kicker, so Swicarz finished runner-up, but he actually took home more money than Wigg due to the deal.

Here are the final results:
First Anton Wigg €55,502
Second Maciej Swicarz €73,655
Third Kristian Eriksson €65,565
Fourth Manfred Kåvestam €23,142
Fifth Morgen Karlsson €18,354
Sixth Andreas Jansson €15,162
Seventh Diomedes Sebastiano €12,768
Eighth Juha-Matti Toivainen €10,773
Ninth Julien Herold €8,778

Irish Winter Festival Sole Survivor
PaddyPowerPoker.com has launched the Irish Winter Festival Sole Survivor promotion. The Sole Survivor promotion at the Irish Open 2009 saw Marcel Koch win a €100,000 package, and this time, the last Paddy Power Poker qualifier standing in the Irish Masters main event at the Irish Winter Festival will win a €20,000 package.

The package itself is made up of €10,000 in cash and €10,000 held for live event buy-in’s (including next year’s Irish Open and Irish Winter Festival) and expenses.

All players who qualify for the Irish Masters are eligible to participate in the last longest tournament.

The €1,500 + €150 buy-in Irish Masters main event is returning to Citywest Hotel on October 24 and will run for three days. Every Sunday at 10 p.m. there is a $200 + $15 super satellite, and each Tuesday there is a $50 + $5 rebuy super satellite at 9 p.m. on PaddyPowerPoker.com.

Irish Winter Festival ticket-only satellites are also now underway. The $200 + $15 freezeouts take place each Thursday evening at 8 p.m., with daily feeder satellites starting from $2.20.